


Where dreams are supposed to be pleasant

by Xelipoops_English (Xelipoops)



Category: Coraline (2009), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Based on Coraline, Coraline AU, M/M, Mild Gore, Mild Language, get toghether fic, idk wth 2 write in the tags, mild angst but mostly banter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:35:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27546931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xelipoops/pseuds/Xelipoops_English
Summary: Keith didn’t mind changing homes.He never made any friends, and he enjoyed being alone; so he never missed any of the places he left. What really bothered him was the mess that had to be cleaned after settling in.Little did he know the mess he got in was about to get even bigger.___Or, what would have happened if the Beldam didn't eat all the children she caught.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 31





	1. As always, a new beggining

Keith didn’t mind changing homes.  
He never made any friends, and he enjoyed being alone; so he never missed any of the places he left. What really bothered him was the mess that had to be cleaned after settling in.  
Pouting and glaring daggers wherever he went, he helped with the boxes they were unpacking. The latest house they had chosen to live in was big and old; and of course, filled with dust to the brim. He could barely take a step anywhere without coughing his lungs out.  
“I already hate this house.” He declared, and sat angrily on one of the boxes. It caved slightly under his weight.  
Shiro took his head out of the closet he was inspecting, with a gigantic spider trapped in a glass.  
“C’me on, Keith, we just arrived! I bet it’ll be great in time.”  
“Says you.” Keith pouted. “And why such a big house? We’re only three.”  
“It was unbelievably cheap.” Shiro smiled. “Something about it being haunted. Why don’t you try to find out what kind of ghost we’re dealing with?”  
“Absolutely not.” Adam walked in, and set his cargo un the dirty floor. “You’re supposed to be helping.”  
Shiro laughed again. “But he isn’t, is he?”  
Keith flipped him the bird. Adam rubbed his eyes.  
“Alright, if you’re just going to sit around, at least do something better. Go and make friends with the neighbours.”  
“What?!” Keith bristled. “But-”  
Adam effectively shut him up with A Look. Keith scoffed.  
“Okay, geez. I’ll be on my way.”

Still pouting, he went downstairs and towards the main entrance. The whole hallway was a mess of packed stuff and dirty sheets that had been covering the furniture. Keith looked for his red raincoat and walked outside.  
It was a chilly morning, and the sky was full of grey clouds. It would rain sooner or later. Keith just sighed and made his way for the basement entrance.

Weird thing about this house: It had been divided into three smaller apartments. To say “small” was an overstatement; they each had several rooms, bathroom and kitchen. One occupied the whole basement, one the third floor, and the one Keith would be currently living in was the main house.  
And that meant that he had neighbours living within the same walls as he did.

Luckily, said neighbours were already outside, armed with a welcome kit. Keith grimaced and put on his best attitude for Shiro’s sake.  
“Hey you! Over here!” A tall guy with broad shoulders called for him. At his side there was a petite girl with oversized glasses. “I’m Hunk and this is Pidge. Welcome to the house!”  
“Hey.” Keith said. Great start. “I’m Keith. Nice to meet you…?”  
That went worse than expected. At least, these people didn’t seem to mind his sheer incompetence in social skills. Hunk just smiled and handed him the cookies he was carrying.  
Pidge looked him up and down, as if judging him. Keith squirmed under her gaze. When she was done, she smiled. It seems she gave him a green pass.  
“We’re going to the town. Want to tag along?”  
Huh. Not bad for a first impression, Keith congratulated himself. Going sounded like fun, and he could imagine Shiro killing him on the spot if he said ‘no’.  
So instead, he said “Sure!”

-.- . .. - …. - …. . ..-. .-. .. . -. -.. -- .- -.- . .-. 

This was the worst idea ever.  
He hadn’t known how they would get to the town, but he had assumed a parent would drive them or something. Not… this.  
“Ouch!” Keith shouted, as he was propelled through the air and landed on his butt again. Hunk and Pidge only snickered, seated firmly on the floor of the horse-drawn carriage.  
“Dude, you’ve never been in one of these before?” Hunk beamed at him. He wouldn’t suspect that he was making fun of him if he hadn’t heard his tone.  
“Shut up, I’d never been to the countryside before.”  
That only earned another round of laughter. Even the damn horse in the front seemed to be amused. Keith bit his snappy retort and tried to find something solid to grab onto.

At last, the awful ride finally ended, and Pidge tipped the chauffeur generously. Keith released his death grip on the loose plank, and went after his companions. At least they waited for him to regain his composure on solid ground before parting into the busy streets.  
Keith followed them like a puppy, knowing full well that if he were to get lost it would mean trouble. He had just moved, after all. So he trailed after his neighbours, who seemed engrossed in small talk.  
He didn’t expect them to begin talking to him, though.  
“Why did you move here?”  
He should have figured. People in general love talking, after all; and if he was to paly nice with them, he would have to answer.  
“Dunno. Probably work stuff.”  
The silence that followed let him know he was expected to divulge more information.  
“Shiro and Adam work as truck drivers. I guess there’s more stuff to be delivered here than in our previous place.”  
“So… are they your dads?” Hunk asked politely.  
“umm… I don’t think so? I mean, Shiro is more like a brother to me, and Adam is his fiancé… Actually, I have no idea. I should ask them later.”  
Hunk and Pidge exchanged looks. Keith knew those ‘this kid has a weird past’ looks. They usually preceded uncomfortable questions.  
Luckily, this was not the case. Unluckily, the subject change was even weirder.  
“Did you know the house is haunted?”  
Ugh. This again.  
“Really?”  
“Yeah! A kid disappeared there and everything”  
Huh. That was new.

“What do you mean ‘disappeared’? He died?”  
“Well, he was never found, so he must have died. My parents told me I was friends with him before he vanished.” Hunk looked in the line between conspiratorial and confused. “I don’t remember him though.”  
“Me too. He lived where you live now, in the main house. I’d be careful if I were you…”  
Pidge’s evil grin and scary hands were a bit of an overkill. Keith just laughed.  
The pair seemed satisfied with the improvement, and kept telling Keith about the weird old house. How it used to be a small mansion, that was abandoned and then reproposed, and how every few years it seemed to bear some kind of suicide or disappearance. Pure bullshit, in Keith’s opinion, but entertaining nonetheless. 

-.- . .. - …. - …. . --. …. --- … - …. ..- -. - . .-.

By the time they came back, Keith had become a local history expert, and he fared the carriage travel well enough. He said goodbye to his recently acquired friends (Were they friends? Keith hoped yes. They were nice enough) and entered his own house.  
Upon setting foot on the interior, he was assaulted by Shiro and Adam.  
“Keith! How was it? Did you have fun?”  
“Are the other kids nice?”  
“Where did you go?”  
“Are those cookies?”  
“God, calm down you overgrown six-year olds!” Keith exclaimed, and smacked Shiro with the platter he carried. “Yes, these are cookies, no, you can’t eat them all, yes, it was fun and can you two at least let me in???”  
They laughed. The let Keith pass while they inhaled cookies, and he tried to escape as swiftly as possible.  
He failed.  
“Hey Keith, look what we found!”  
Keith turned back from his place at the staircase and looked at Shiro with a raised eyebrow. He just smiled and held up a rag doll.

Only, it was most certainly not a regular doll. It was a Keith-doll. Down to a small red raincoat and a small frown, it was a perfect copy.  
“You kidding, right? When did you make this?”  
Shiro held his hands up. “We didn’t, I promise. Adam found it somewhere around the rooms upstairs.”  
“Yeah, sure.” Keith rolled his eyes. Was he really the youngest one here?  
He took the mini-Keith from Shiro’s hands and made a bee-line for his room. He closed the door behind him, and assessed the depressing space.  
Another bad thing about moving: It takes forever to make your room yours. For ages, it just looks as a grey floor between four walls. What was exactly what it looked like now.  
Keith sighed and put the doll in the bedside table, in an attempt to make it look a little homier. It didn’t do much, but at least it was something.  
“G’night, totally-not-made-by-my-brother mini-Keith.”  
Real Keith settled in and prepared for a night full of dust sneezes.


	2. The Land where Dreams are Supposed to be Pleasant

Keith awoke with a sneeze.  
Really, he shouldn’t have been surprised. The dust they’d been kicking up all day had finally settled, and had decided to do so on his nose. Annoyed, he rubbed his face and faced the opposite wall. The door, slightly open, let a ray of moonlight come into his room, illuminating his sad excuses of possessions.   
Wait. The door was closed when he went to sleep.

Keith was about to blame it on his brother(s?) and go back to sleep, when he heard a squeak.   
That was definitely not Shiro.   
He opened a bleary eye, and saw a mouse sitting by the door. It was a pretty little thing, with creamy fur and big eyes. Keith moved slowly, trying not to scare it away, and got out of the bed.   
The instant his bare feet touched the floor, the mouse ran off into the corridor. Keith cursed and bolted after it. He didn’t know why, but the tiny animal seemed worth following.  
He chased it downstairs, and then through half of the house, until the living room. He thought he had it cornered there, as it had disappeared behind an unpacked box. Keith approached carefully, but when he moved the box, he didn’t find the mouse.  
Instead, there was a little door. He could fit if he crawled, but it seemed like more trouble than it was worth. It seemed to be just a useless decoration. That is, until in cracked open.  
Keith could hear the mouse on the other side, so he swinged it open.

He expected it to be a tiny broom closet, or maybe an entrance to the neighbour’s part of the house. Definitely not a weird hallway made of cloth, with soft blue and violet light.   
“Huh. Must be dreaming.” He muttered to himself. He shrugged and entered the hallway/hole. Might as well enjoy it.  
The cloth material was soft, like silk. It seemed to glow in pulses, illuminating Keith’s face from everywhere at once. Yet it was so soft, it didn’t bother his eyes at all. As he crawled further into it, he could make out door at the end. With some difficulty, he pulled an arm from under himself, and reached for the doorknob.  
It was as if he had gone through a mirror. The other side of the door showed a living room exactly like the one he just left.   
“What the fuck” he muttered under his breath.  
It was all the same, minus the random boxes. Even Shiro’s collection of lion figurines were on the mantelpiece.   
If this was a dream, the it wasn’t a very interesting one. Keith debated the option of just going back to his bed, but then he heard someone going around in the kitchen. It was quite late, so it didn’t make any sense. But when are dreams logical?  
He got up and went towards the sound. It was as if someone was cooking right there, at midnight. He pushed the door cautiously and peered inside.   
As suspected, there was a woman making dinner. She was short, around Keith’s stature, and had long brown curls tied neatly to get them out of the way. She was humming.  
“Don’t be shy, dear, come in!”  
Keith jumped backwards. How had she seen him?! He had been stealthy! But it didn’t matter now, seeing as he had already been spotted. So he straightened himself and entered the kitchen.  
It was exactly the same as the not-dreamt kitchen, but this one actually looked good. The walls were painted in bright colours, and the cupboards were full of utensils. Awake-Keith’s kitchen was still a barren land full of takeout packages.   
In the middle of it, the lady stood looking at him expectantly. Keith felt out of place, so he tried to apologize for interrupting… whatever was going on in this weird dream; but when he looked up to meet her eyes, he was left speechless.   
She didn’t have any eyes. Or at least, not that he could see. Instead, she sported two big black buttons over her eyelids. But seeing how she followed Keith’s movements, she could still see him.  
Keith didn’t want to let the lady know she was freaking him out, so he played it cool.   
“Uhm, I was just passing by…”  
“I know, I know!” She smiled kindly. It lessened the scary effect those button eyes had, and soon Keith was smiling too. “Call me Helena. I’m almost finished with dinner. Will you stay, honey?”  
Keith didn’t see why not.   
“Sure.”  
“Wonderful!” She clapped her hands and beckoned him towards the table. Soon, Keith found himself sitting while a constant stream of other people trickled into the kitchen and sat beside him. They all looked similar to each other; dark skin and brown hair. Keith realized that they all must be related.   
He observed them as they chose their seats. Two bulky men, one much older than the other; a tall girl with short hair, and a lanky guy. All of them had button eyes.   
The last pair to enter called his attention. A girl and a boy, both around his age, who looked like a carbon copy of each other. The girl had long hair, like who Keith guessed was their mother, and the guy…  
Huh. The guy didn’t have button eyes. He had regular, everyday human being blue eyes.  
He didn’t know why but it unnerved him. Why would he look like everyone else, only to lack the most important detail? Keith blamed his inconsistent imagination.  
And his sudden discomfort didn’t have anything to do with those oh-so-normal eyes gazing at him across the table.

Luckily, he was saved by Helena.   
“Children!” She called, and five pairs of button and two pairs of normal eyes met hers. “We have a guest today. Keith, sweety, welcome!”   
Keith didn’t know how she figured out his name, but he didn’t really care. People in dreams can know random stuff, right?  
“Uhm, hi”  
The people on the table greeted him politely, and then ignored him in favour for the food being served. Keith felt almost relived.  
Key word being almost; because those blue eyes had gone back to studying him.   
At least, the general chatter in the room had become loud enough that it would be uncomfortable to start a conversation. Keith counted his blessing that he didn’t have to talk to stare-guy.   
However, all of that was forgotten once he tasted the food.  
To say that it was delicious was an understatement. Hell, he could say he had gone to heaven and back and it wouldn’t even start to convey how good it tasted. It had every flavour that home-cooked food should have, like butter and hopes and dreams. Going back to takeout after this would be hard.  
Keith enjoyed his dinner in blissful ignorance of the world around him, and he came to his senses once the rest of the others had begun retiring to their rooms.   
That’s when rude-eyes spoke for the first time.  
“Go ahead, I’ll stay up a bit longer.”   
He looked to where the guy had addressed his sister. They seemed to have a silent standoff, and then she left alone. He then turned towards Keith again.  
“Come with me.” He said in an authoritative tone, and then got up and walked away.  
The nerve of this guy. Keith wanted to stay where he was out of pure spite; but he didn’t have anything better to do, did he? Reluctantly, he complied and trailed after Blue eyes.

The house looked way better here than in real life. As Keith followed his new companion, he observed the changes between the dream and the depressing place he moved into this morning. Here everything was a little brighter, a little more colourful. The furniture was clean and polished, the floor was dust-free and everything looked… well, lived-in. There were toys scattered around, and drawing on the walls; looking a bit old but well cared-for. In overall, exactly what he would expect of a house where seven people lived.

Mystery-rude-pants guided him all the way to the garden, and then a bit further. It was a bright night, and the moon illumined their path. The grass was wet with dew, and their footsteps made no sound.  
“Here.”   
Mr. Walkalong had settled on the floor, facing a small cliff, his feet dangling over the edge. Keith copied him. Once he sat, he could see the ocean lapping lazily a couple of meters below.

“What are you doing here?”  
Keith scoffed.  
“I have no idea. Why don’t you tell me?”  
The boy hummed in response. Then:  
“You come from outside, don’t you?”  
What the fuck does that even mean.  
“From the other side of the door.”  
Keith shrugged.   
“Yeah, I think so.”  
“Why?”  
Keith really had no reasonable answer for that.  
“Dunno. I just felt like it.”  
“I was here first!” The other boy shouted. Keith flinched, but remained where he was. “This world is for me only! Don’t you have your own family to go to?!”  
Enough was enough. Keith got up and began making his way back to the house.  
“Hey! I’m not done talking! Come back here!”  
Who was this guy anyway?! Like hell Keith would just do as he pleased. He just flipped him the bird over his shoulder and walked away.

.- -. -. --- -.-- .. -. --. -… .-.. ..- . . -.-- . -.. -… --- -.—

Keith could still hear him shouting until he closed the front door behind him. The brat didn’t have an ounce of manners in him. Tired, he rubbed his eyes, and became very aware of the fact that he had been awake (sleep-awake? Exhausted nonetheless) for a while now. He went to his room, and he encountered Helena at the bottom of the stairs. She smiled at him, and he felt even more sleepy.  
“Did you have fun with Lance, dear?”  
So dick-pants was called Lance. Good to know. Keith smirked, and then yawned with all his might. Helena noticed immediately.   
“Time to go to bed, isn’t it?”  
She guided him past a couple of rooms (in the real world, they were empty; here, the doors were closed and there were people sleeping inside.) and the ushered him into his own bedroom.  
“Sleep well, sweetheart!”  
She closed the door without a sound. Keith couldn’t stop thinking how kind she was. He didn’t stop to admire the room he was in; he went directly for the bed and fell upon it as if he were a bag of bricks.  
All in all, it was a nice dream. If only Blue-eyed-grumpypants wasn’t such a dick, he would even have liked to come back.


	3. Brothers are assholes, buttons are creepy

Keith woke feeling dizzy. He could still remember last night’s dream in detail, and it was disconcerting.   
Whatever, he thought, I’ll forget it in a couple of hours. For some reason that thought made him feel a bit sad. It was such a nice dream…  
It was obvious that he wouldn’t be able to just magically fall asleep and get to see it again, so he settled for writing down the important details. He reached for his notebook, which was thankfully in the backpack by his bedside, and started working. He managed to sketch out roughly Helena’s features, taking care to detail the button eyes. And after a while, he decided to draw Lance too.  
It wasn’t the best, but it was all he could do with a clouded mind and bleary eyes. He set it aside and prepared to face the upcoming day.  
As he feared, he had to unpack everything he had left yesterday. He went this way and that all morning, with a lunch break, and then all the afternoon. By the time he was finished, his back ached terribly.   
He went to get dinner with a hand on his hips and a groan and his mouth. Shiro laughed as soon as he entered the room.  
“Here comes the old man!” He dared to mock him, after spending a full week in bed for a simple sore throat. Keith rolled his eyes and ignored him.  
“Hey, Keith, I’ve been meaning to ask, what’s this stuff in your notebook?”  
Keith could see Shiro holding up said item. He quickly snatched it from his hands.   
“THAT was supposed to be private.” He glared at his brother. Shiro just held his hands up.  
“Don’t blame me, it was on the table, public territory.”  
Can one kill with a glare? Keith was tempted to find out.  
“Don’t tempt the devil, love” Adam piped up from the kitchen. At least SOMEONE was on his side.  
“Anyway, I wanna know. Who’s the buttons lady? And the other guy?”  
“It was…” Keith admitted reluctantly. “It was a dream. I dreamt of being in this house, with another family.”  
Shiro looked at him expectantly. Damn human beings and their need of useless information.  
“There were like seven people, but only those two talked to me. Also, they all had button eyes, except this guy here.” Keith pointed at Lance’s drawing. “He was a dick, though.”  
“Aww, my bro is finally dreaming with people!”  
Keith.exe stopped working. Then:  
“What?! NO! Shiro what the hell!”  
Shiro laughed harder.  
“So, was he attractive, or you just had to make do? Also, you’re cleaning your own sheets tomorrow.”  
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Keith stood abruptly, sending his chair to the floor. He grabbed his notebook and power-walked out. “FUCK YOU, SHIRO!”

\- …. .- - .-- .- … - …. . -- --- --- . -. - … …. .. .-. --- -.- -. . .-- -.-.-- …. . ..-. ..- -.-. -.- . -.. ..- .--. 

Keith might have overreacted. Just a little bit. But he wasn’t going to admit it, damn it.   
He threw himself in his bed, and pouted. From the bedside, the Keith-doll frowned back at him.  
“What are you looking at.”  
He faced the opposite side. The last thing he wanted to do was chat with himself (literally and figuratively).  
He could hear Shiro out of his door, trying to follow his ‘don’t go to bed angry’ rule; but he just ignored him. If Shiro could tease him then Keith had every right to lock himself in his room.  
At some point in the night, the knocking subsided, and Keith fell into restless sleep.

In his dream, he was facing the little door. He had half a mind to just go back to his bed again; but then he said fuck it, I might as well enjoy another good dream-meal.  
He crossed the little cloth tunnel and found the other door open. He wiggled himself out of the hole, and came face to face with Shiro.   
Only, this wasn’t Shiro. He had button eyes.  
He smiled at him, and Keith just stared. Helena appeared from around a corner, and went to meet him too.   
“Do you like him?” She asked.  
“Uhh… what-?”  
“I fixed him for you! He can only say nice things now”  
Keith looked at Helena and then back at Shiro. She nodded, encouraging him, and Keith gulped.   
“Ehm, hi…?”  
“Hi Keith!” Shiro sounded as excited as he was whenever they went to the space museum. To say, a lot. “Nice to see you!”  
“Uh, yeah, nice”  
Helena had the grace to save him from his crisis. “Come along, you two, breakfast is ready!”  
Oh, breakfast. That sounded better than absolutely-not-freaky-smiley-Shiro.  
He hurried behind Helena, Shiro hot on his heels. He would have panicked, if he hadn’t been attacked on the spot.  
“YOU!”  
Keith stopped out of surprise. Planted in front of him, looking as if he were a high school bully, was Lance; arms crossed and face set in a scowl.  
“Here again? I told you, this is my family! Go get your own!”  
He would not let him know he struck a nerve. He would not he would not he wouldn’t-  
He threw his arm back and prepared to punch him square in the face. (Un)fortunately, he was stopped.   
“Boys!”   
Helena looked at them with a heartbroken expression. Keith was sent into such a powerful guilt trip that he immediately regretted even having been born.  
“I’m sorry ma’am.” He never apologized so easily, but something told him he didn’t want to cross this lady.  
“Sorry mom.” At least Lance looked ashamed too.  
Keith sidestepped him and followed Helena. He would have brushed shoulders with him, because he was that childish, but again he really wanted that breakfast.  
Everyone else was already at the table, witing. They were perfectly still, until Lance came into the room, and then they started chatting with each other and serving themselves. Once more, creepy as fuck, but dreams are weird right? Keith just found a seat and planted down on it, other-Shiro sitting quietly at his side. Lance sat opposite them, glaring daggers at him.  
Helena filled Keith’s plate with a combination of pancakes, homemade cookies and eggs. It was as delicious as expected. Keith scarfed everything down without minding the holes being bored into his head.  
“What’s your name?”  
That made him pause his gluttony. That sounded like Lance, and he sounded… casual. As if he was trying to initiate a real conversation and not a petty argument.  
Well, if he was going to behave, Keith supposed he could give him a chance.  
“Name’s Keith.”  
“Lance.”  
“I know.”  
Lance arched an eyebrow.  
“Your mother told me.”  
“Oh.”  
That seemed to be it for a while. Then:  
“Are you staying?” Lance asked.  
“What?”  
“Here, I mean.”  
Keith was thrown for a loop. What did he mean with ‘stay’??  
“Uh, I don’t think so? This is just a dream, it’s not like I can-”  
Lance snorted. “I assure you, it’s real enough.” His blue eyes stared into Keith with intensity. Keith looked away.   
At the lack of a response, Lance smiled.  
“Well, if you’re just passing through, we should have some fun.”   
He winked, WINKED at him and then looked at Helena.  
“Mom, can you prepare a wonder for us?”  
Keith wanted to ask what the fuck was a wonder. Helena rubbed her chin pensively, and the smiled and nodded.   
“Sure thing, dear! What would you two like?”  
Lance looked at him up and down, focusing on his leather gloves.  
“Do you like racing?”

\- …. .-. . . -.-.-- - .-- --- -.-.-- --- -. . -.-.-- -.-. …. .- --- … . -. … ..- . … 

Keith should have known this was a bad idea. But he was by no means a responsible teenager, and he wouldn’t ever turn down the opportunity to do something dangerous and stupid when it was offered in a silver plate.  
“Are we really allowed to use this?” Keith asked, while taking in the amazing futuristic bike that was floating in front of his eyes.   
“Yeah, sure. Mom made these just for us.” Lance replied easily, and mounted his own hover-bike. “Usually I race against Rachel, my twin, but winning is just too easy.”  
Keith took the handle and mounted slowly, trying to figure out how not to overbalance and face-plant onto the ground. Once he settled on top, however, he found that he didn’t need to. The bike followed his movements perfectly, and it tilted until a certain point before rightening itself again.   
“This is awesome!” Keith couldn’t contain the excitement in his voice. Back home, he hadn’t ever been allowed even to touch a motorcycle; and now here he was, riding a flying one.  
“I know, right?” Lance looked just as smug as he sounded. He started the engine and went towards the garage entrance, and Keith copied him. The mechanism was very simple, really; and before long, he had figured out all the controls, and felt eager to get started.  
“Ready to eat dust, Mullet?”  
“As if.” Keith ignored the nickname in order to align his bike with the starting line. (Again, where did a whole racing field come from??) Lance’s family and creepy-Shiro were seated in the sidelines, cheering on them both. Lance’s father stood on the middle of the road, holding a flag high in the sky.  
“Ready kids?!”  
“You got it pops!” Lance screamed back.  
“Three…”  
“Two…”  
“One-”  
“GO!!”  
He sent he flag down, and Keith and Lance took off at maximum speed.

Once, Keith had gone to a park with Shiro and Adam. They had tried everything, and at Keith’s insistence, they sneaked him into a rollercoaster. It was one of the most intense experiences of his life, going up and down at a sickening pace.   
Keith decided it had nothing against racing on hoverbikes.  
Everything he felt; from the wind on his face to the roar of the engine below him, was exhilarating. Lance was cheering beside him, and the ground was nothing but a blur. Keith was sure nothing ever could compare to this.   
But being thrilled by sensations wasn’t the same as being distracted. He could see Lance gaining ground ahead of him, and he still remembered they were in a race. So he did what his insides were begging him to do: He sped up.  
They spent an entire lap almost side by side, occasionally speeding up or falling behind; but always close to each other. In the final lap, Keith had managed to take the lead, and was all but flying to the finish line. He could hear Lance screaming indignantly from somewhere on his tail, and he was very happy to ignore him. He was so close, almost there…  
When suddenly his engine stopped. Whatever was keeping the bike afloat stopped working, and he crashed into the ground. Lance zoomed past him, screaming all the while, but this time in a worried tone. Keith couldn’t register his words, because he was too busy rolling on the floor and getting the beating of his life.   
At last, he came to a stop, aching all over. His bike lied on its side a couple of meters away; and Lance was running towards him, as were Helena and the others.   
“Keith!” Lance reached him first, and threw himself on his knees at his side. “Are you ok? What happened?!”  
“Uhhh…” Keith couldn’t focus. Those blue eyes were distracting him too much. “’m fine-”  
“No you’re not!” Wow, Lance was angry. Who would have known? It almost looked like he cared for Keith’s wellbeing or something. “Mom, Keith is hurt!”  
A pair of black buttons replaced Lance’s blue eyes, and Keith mourned the loss. Those buttons were cold, nothing like real eyes. He couldn’t tell what was going on behind them.  
“He’ll be fine, dear.” Helena’s voice washed over him like a sleeping spell. He felt much better, and his bruises didn’t hurt as much. “Nothing a good night’s rest can’t fix.”  
Lance seemed to want to protest, but he was too looking tired. Keith felt a pair of arms lifting him up (Shiro’s, who else? It was his brother after all) and settling him against a big chest.  
“Sleep now, sweetie.” Helena smiled down on him.  
And Keith couldn’t do other than comply. 

\- …. . .-. .- -.-. . -.-.-- - …. . .-- .. - -.-. …. .- -. -.. - …. . .- ..- -.. .- -.-. .. - -.-- --- ..-. - …. .. … -… .. - -.-. ….

She was observing them, as always.  
There was something alluring about children. Always laughing, always running, always being energetic and excited. She loved them all.  
She observed them in their homes, studying what made them unhappy. She hated children being unhappy. She just wanted them to laugh forever. So she offered them all what they lacked.  
Sometimes it was love. Sometimes it was attention. Sometimes it was just a toy. But she gave it to them, and their smiles returned to their faces. They loved her, and she loved them in return.  
Now, she was taking care of two kids at once. It didn’t happen often, but she liked these occasions. She got her first kid a playmate, and she could tell they were both happy. They were racing around in the hoverbikes she created for them, and the sound of their laughter filled the air.   
But a few minutes later, those sounds changed. Her kid was distressed, she could tell. The other one was winning. And if he won, her child would be sad.   
She couldn’t allow that to happen. Her kid was her everything. It would kill her to see him being any other than happy.  
So she did what was logic. She called the strings that kept her creation working. She summoned her magic, and cut the hoverbike’s engine.   
She felt so proud. Her kid would now win, as always, and he would be happy. However, that’s not what happened.   
Instead, her child abandoned the race, and ran towards his playmate.  
That’s when she realized her mistake. Her kid cared more about him than about winning.  
She would not commit the same error twice. Now she knew that if she wanted her Lance to be happy, she would have to catch Keith too.


	4. Fix two broken things

Keith woke up feeling sore all over. He got up slowly and checked himself for any injuries, only to find none. It was to be expected, since the accident happened in a dream; but it had felt so real. He could have sworn he had broken an arm, and he shuddered at the memory.   
Nevertheless, he was here without a scratch, so he left the bed and went for the door; but just as he was going to open it, he heard Shiro talking downstairs.   
He didn’t quite remember why they had fought the night before, but he still felt mildly annoyed. And honestly, sitting through whatever lecture/apology Shiro had prepared was not a very exciting plan for the morning. So instead, Keith left the door closed and crossed the room, where he opened a window.  
It didn’t look as if it would be mortal if he fell, so he shrugged and climbed out. Two stories in a house with a gable roof was easy, in comparison to other ones Keith had climbed out of: Mostly departments in buildings, without any structures to break the fall, and several stories high.  
Once he set foot on the ground, he sneaked around, avoiding the windows, until he reached the road outside the entrance. Then, he pulled out his phone and called the carriage (number dutifully provided by Hunk), and sat to wait. His stomach grumbled, and Keith hissed in return. No amount of breakfast would justify bearing with his brother right now, so he would have to make do.   
(What a shame he wasn’t in the dream now. Helena would surely give him a snack.)  
After a few minutes of playing games in his phone, the carriage arrived. It was the same one he used the other day: No roof, black horse, and holding the reins…  
He hadn’t paid attention to the chauffeur the first time around, because he was too busy trying not to fall off. But now, he couldn’t take his eyes off her; she looked so very similar to-  
“Rachel?”  
The very same girl Lance was talking to the first night he went into the dream. His twin sister. Curly brown hair, small nose, and bright blue eyes instead of buttons.  
She looked at him with a weird expression. That’s when Keith’s brain decided to backtrack and inform him that yes; he had just called out the name of someone he shouldn’t even know.   
“Yes Keith?”  
“I-” Abort, abort, what the hell is happening here?! “How do you know my name?”  
Keith must have looked as scared as he sounded. Rachel just laughed.  
“You’re the new kid in town, everyone knows about you. Besides-” she gestured towards the house entrance. “-you guys are renting our department.”  
Oh. That clears it. What Keith can’t really explain is…  
“Now, why do YOU know my name?” Rachel inquired.   
Keith was fucked, he knew that. But he was about to get double fucked if he didn’t leave the house without Shiro found him sneaking out.  
“…Can I explain on the way? I really need to go…”  
“Creepy.” Rachel said, and Keith cringed. Why were girls so difficult to talk to?!   
She must have seen his distress painted all over his face, because she pointed over her shoulder to the passenger seats.  
“Come on, let’s go.”  
Keith unclenched his shoulders and climbed up. He planted himself in a seat and grabbed for dear life, and Rachel did the thing with the reins to get the horse moving.   
“Sooo, you were saying?”  
Keith sighed. Either she would think he was crazy, or a creep, but he owed her an explanation.  
“Uhm, you see, I’ve been having these weird dreams…”

-… ..- - - --- -. . -.-- . … -.-.-- .--. .-. . - - -.-- . -.-- . …

As Keith’s tale went on and on, the mischievous smile Rachel had sported disappeared, replaced by a frown and an intense look. Keith was very glad that she was staring at the road and not him; she looked downright murderous right now.  
When he reached the accident in the last dream, she looked at him, as if checking for bruises, and Keith cowered in his place. He didn’t have any, of course. What happens in dreams stay in dreams, right?  
“So, you say Lance was there?”  
Keith nodded, and then answered verbally. “Yeah, he was.”  
“Normal eyes? No buttons?”  
“Yup.”  
Rachel pursed her lips. “You should come to my house.”  
“What?”  
“I can show you there. You’re the missing piece.”  
Every red alarm labelled stranger danger Shiro and Adam had put in his head was blaring right now; but then Rachel turned to look at him, eyes glassy and determined.  
“You can help me find my brother.”  
Keith stared. Her eyes were exactly the same colour as Lance’s. It was distracting. He nodded.  
Satisfied, Rachel turned her back on him again, and changed their path. They bypassed the city centre, and went to another residential area with packed dirt roads and houses with big gardens. She left the carriage in front of one, and jumped off. Keith followed suit. They crossed a garden full of fruit trees, and Rachel opened the front door without needing to unlock it.   
“LUIS!” She called. “Get your ass on the carriage! I’m calling a day off!”  
Keith heard feet shuffling and muffled screams, probably from the aforementioned Luis. Rachel seemed satisfied, and she led him through the house.   
At first, Keith thought he was dreaming again. This place was very similar to the dreamt house; all warm colours and messy rooms and people. He could see some going on and about, paying them no mind. Some he recognized, others not so much; but they all looked similar to each other.  
“Mija? Who’s that?”  
Keith turned to face the person speaking, and he was hit hard by deja vú.   
It was Helena. No button eyes on sight, and she looked more tired, somewhat sadder. But it was her, no doubt.  
“Mom!” Rachel greeted her. “This guy, Keith, wanted… school stuff!”  
Helena looked at him with critical eye. It was weird seeing her without her big smile. Keith tried to make himself look smaller under her gaze.  
“Okay, call me if you need anything.” She patted him on the shoulder and disappeared down the hall. Seriously, what was it with this family and staring at him?!  
“Sorry about that, she’s been… wary, lately.”  
“Since Lance.” Keith completed. He was dumb, but even he could see the missing pieces. “He was the one who disappeared.”   
Rachel grimaced. Trust Keith to be blunt. He wanted to smack himself, but he didn’t.  
“Sorry.”  
“It’s ok.” Rachel opened a door and gestured for him to go in. It was, obviously, her bedroom.   
“Lance disappeared while we were living in the house you’re in now. One day he was there, the next… it was as if he had never existed.” Rachel began rummaging through her drawers, pulling all kinds of stuff out of them. “We hoped that he would appear eventually, but the years passed and we had to give up. We moved out, and rented the house. Mom couldn’t bear to live there anymore.”  
Keith wanted to say something, but his socially inept brain couldn’t come up with anything. Luckily, he was saved by a big box being shoved into his arms.  
“Everyone grew tired of looking. They moved on. But I found this.”  
Rachel took a book from the box and held it for Keith to read the cover.   
“The Beldam”  
“Exactly.” Rachel opened the book and began sorting through its pages. “It’s a folks tale, the old kind. The Beldam, the imposter. The one who offers you what you want the most, to steal you from the world.” She finally found what she was looking for, and turned the book again. Where she held it open, there was a crude drawing of a woman, thin as needle, with a terrifying smile and round, black eyes.  
“The buttons…”   
“You were there, Keith.” Rachel set the book aside and grabbed Keith’s arms. “It was a wonderful world, wasn’t it? Everything was exactly as you wished it to be. And you were expected to stay there.”  
Keith gulped. If that was what those dreams were, it meant it was all real. The fake family and the warm house and-  
“Lance.” Keith said, and Rachel nodded. “Lance chose to stay there.”  
She looked away, hurt. “He did, didn’t he?”  
Keith nodded slowly. “He looked at ease there. It was his home.”  
“It isn’t.” Rachel was facing the ground, but her voice was steady. “His home is here. As soon as he finds out what is going on there, the Beldam will turn on him.”  
Keith recalled the creepy drawing. A chill settled deep into his spine.   
“We will get him out.”   
Keith didn’t know where the decision came from. He had seen the guy twice in his life, for god’s sake, but he wouldn’t let him be killed by some nightmarish creature. Rachel lifted her head, teartracks on her cheeks, and eyes filled with hope.  
“You mean it?”  
“I… yes, I do. If he’s still there, we gotta save him, right?”  
He was suddenly being hugged. The box fell to the floor, and Keith froze like a deer in the headlights, while Rachel crushed his soul out of him.  
“Lance-” She mumbled. “I’m finally getting my Lance back.”  
Keith didn’t have the heart to peel away from her hug, so he just let his arms hang uselessly at his sides as she sobbed quietly in his shoulder.

\--- -. . -.. --- -. . -.-.-- --- -. . - --- --. ---

Rachel had asked Marco to drop him off, and true to his family’s nature he talked all the way home. At least, he didn’t seem to be too interested on Keith, instead gossiping about his sister. Keith was grateful about being able to keep his privacy, at the cost of gaining lots of blackmail material abut Rachel.  
He paid for the trip and stepped into his garden, willing his hunger to go away. He had had lunch at Rachel’s house (very unsettling, considering he had done so before, just not with the real people), but skipping dinner AND breakfast was taking its toll.   
He unlocked the door, and stepped inside; he was going to head to his room, but he heard rapid footsteps growing louder, and then Adam was power-walking towards him.  
“KEITH!”  
He should have known better. He braced himself for an hour-long lecture, fearing for his stomach’s future; only to be enveloped in a tight hug.  
Wait what?  
“Oh thank god-” Adam said, and kissed his forehead. “Shiro! Keith is back!”  
More footsteps, and then Shiro threw himself upon them both.  
“Keith!” He was crying. Honest-to-god ugly crying. “Where were you?! We were worried sick!”  
Keith was left speechless. He really didn’t expect such a welcoming party.   
“I-” He stumbled over his words. “I went to a friend’s. I lost track of time.”  
Shiro just hugged him tighter. Adam knocked his knuckles lightly on the top of Keith’s head.   
“You didn’t leave a note, none of us had seen you since yesterday night, and we’re new in town! Think about all what could have gone wrong!”   
Keith cringed. Now that he thought about it, it was kind of a dick move.   
“I… sorry guys. I won’t do that again.”  
They both smiled at him. “You’d better not” Adam said, and Shiro added: “let us know when you go out.”  
Thankfully, he was saved of the umpteenth hug of the day when his stomach grumbled. Loudly.  
Adam and Shiro looked at him, amused, but said nothing. They led him to the kitchen without letting go of him completely; Shiro had a hand on his shoulder, and Adam had grabbed his wrist. Keith found that he didn’t mind.  
They ate awful takeout food, and laughed at Shiro’s noodle moustache, and then Keith got another hug from each of them before going to bed.  
“I’m sorry for upsetting you, Keith.”  
“We love you; you know that?”  
Keith smiled softly. Deep inside, he had always known. But seeing both of them so concerned with his wellbeing had left him feeling warm and safe; and he even considered lowering his walls a bit.  
“Goodnight, guys.”  
It was harder than it seemed, but he would get there.


	5. Keith's greatest enemy: Social interactions

Keith didn’t bother with going to sleep. He was a man on a mission, and so he waited until Shiro and Adam disappeared into their room; and then he got up and went straight to the living room. The door was there, as always, and this time, without the haziness of being half-asleep, he could see that it was well worn-down; with scratches along the edges and urgently needing a paint job. He ignored it and yanked it open.  
Much to his surprise (and his relief), the cloth passage was still there. But now it didn’t seem as inviting as before. Maybe it was Keith’s imagination, but the lights seemed duller, somehow. As if whatever kept them going was wearing out. As per the norm, he ignored that too and continued onwards.  
Alas, he couldn’t even cross properly into the other side before being tackled.

“Keith!” The owner of the name grunted as a body was thrown onto him, making him catch his foot in the little door, and almost sending them both plummeting to the ground. When they regained their footing, Keith could hold (who now he knew was) Lance at an arm’s length, and send him a questioning and incriminatory look.  
Lance ignored his death threat and just laughed. “I’m so glad you came, man! You’re just in time!”  
“In time for whaaaAAAA-” Keith was promptly interrupted and pulled along by Lance, who had joined their hands and was now dragging him through the house. While they speed-walked towards wherever was Lance’s destination, Keith observed the various decorations Lance’s “siblings” were putting up; including but not limited to: colourful tablecloths, paper pennants, plastic cups and a big sign that read “Happy Birthday!”.  
Oh hell no.  
Rescuing his (friend?) acquaintance from an evil witch was one thing, but a birthday party? With loud music, obnoxious dancing and people all around?? Not a chance.  
However, he couldn’t even voice his complaints before being shoved in the face of none other than the witch.  
Helena, he thought. Think of her as Lance’s mother, act less suspicious. Get that horrible drawing out of your head, you’re not supposed to know she’s thin and ugly and evil and-  
“Mom, Keith finally came! Fix him an outfit, would you?”  
The wit- Helena smiled and turned around, heading back into the room she was just getting out of. In a second, she reappeared with a small bundle in her arms. She held it out for Keith, and he had to feign he wasn’t scared shitless.  
“Thanks ma’am” He managed to croak out, before being yet again manhandled out of the way by a very excited Lance.  
“It’s your birthday today, isn’t it?”  
Lance smiled over his shoulder. “You’re supposed to say ‘happy birthday’, but I’ll take it.” He turned a corner and shoved Keith into his own room. “Come on and get changed already, I’ve been waiting for you!”  
He closed the door in his face before Keith could retort. He sighed, and resigned to his fate of being socially awkward for as long as it took him to single Lance out.  
He opened the package in his arms, and found a very nice dressing shirt, in a deep red; and black jeans with ripped knees. They weren’t very far from his taste, so he put them on. They felt soft and warm.  
Once he was done, he opened the door and was thrust upon an armful of Lance.  
“Took you long enough!” And then they were racing downstairs, Keith being aware that he was a second away from faceplanting on every available surface. Luckily, they made it into the dining room with minimal incidents, and were received by Lance’s “family” cheering on them.  
Well, it would be fair to say they were cheering for Lance, but Keith still felt too exposed.  
Lance, on the other hand, basked in the attention, smiling and still dragging Keith behind him; he made their way onto the table, and had Keith sit beside him. The button-eyed people sat too, and Helena clapped her hands.  
“Happy birthday to my dearest!” She purred, and with a flourish of her hands, food emerged from the empty plates.  
Keith had low-key known she had magic, but it was his first time seeing her using it so boldly. Entire platters of home-cooked (or magic-cooked) food appeared out of thin air, immediately filling the room with pleasant scents. Lance helped himself without batting an eye, and Keith followed after he was over his initial shock.  
He wasn’t sure if he should trust the witch not to have poisoned his meal or something, but he would have to make do. After eating so much the previous nights, it would be suspicious not to take a bite.  
So he dug in, as did everyone else. It was delicious as always, even with the ever-present unease Keith felt. Once every plate was cleaned through, Helena appeared with a cake in her hands.  
Lance couldn’t be more excited. Keith was worried he would explode in his seat right there and then. The candles were lit, everyone chanted a quick happy birthday, and Lance blew them out. Eyes closed and everything. What a dork.  
“What did you wish for, dear?” Helena spoke up.  
“I’ll tell you later, mom!” Lance said cheerfully, taking Keith’s hand and guiding him away. Helena seemed taken aback, but she let them go. It wasn’t as if she could give Lance everything he wanted with the snap of a finger-  
Right, she could. Keith would facepalm himself if he wasn’t being dragged upstairs.  
“Lance? Where are we going?”  
“It’s a surprise!” Lance said, without even looking at him. They came out of the staircase in the third floor, and then Lance opened a door that led to a ladder nailed into the wall. He let go of Keith’s hand and climbed up. Keith guessed it would be better than staying downstairs with the witch and the not-family, so he followed after him. It would be a good idea to get somewhere where they couldn’t be heard, anyway. He still needed to convince Lance to go back with him.  
It was, as he had suspected, an entrance to the roof: He sat carefully on the small opening, and then he saw Lance a little way downwards in the inclined rooftop. He inched carefully towards him, minding the great distance between them and the ground, and sat beside him. Lance reached out and interlaced their fingers immediately, as if he was scared that Keith would fall. Keith almost scoffed. He already had fallen off enough rooftops to know his way around by now.  
“Do you like it?” Lance looked at him expectantly. Keith surveyed the view, and decided it wasn’t so bad. They could see all the garden from here, full of greenery and other bright colours dulled by the night sky. The ocean could also be seen behind a little hill, extending towards the horizon.  
“It’s nice.” Keith answered. Lance squeezed his hand, and leaned in close. Keith stared at him; eyes blown wide.  
“What. The fuck are you doing?!”  
Lance backed up, a hurt expression in his face. “I want you to date me.”  
“What?!”  
What the fuck was going on??  
Lance frowned. “You’re here, and I like you. I said I want you to date me.”  
Keith stood abruptly, fear of falling off forgotten. He freed his hand from Lance’s grasp, and made his way back to the roof hatch.  
“Hey! Come back!”  
“No way in hell, asshole!” Keith screamed back. “I’m not one of your toy people! Go ask your mom to make a dummy for you to drool over!”  
Keith jumped into the house, ignoring the ladder, and then bolted downstairs. He dodged all the people that was wandering around, trying to go for the living room. But when he saw Helena standing there, he changed directions and went outside instead.  
The night was warm, so he didn’t even stop to think about grabbing a jacket. He just wanted to get away from everything.  
What the fuck was even going on?! Since when did Lance apparently like him, and why was he stating it as if it was Keith’s duty to act on it too? Weren’t relationships supposed to be a two-way street? Keith pulled his hair in annoyance.  
See this, this is why he didn’t like people. They always acted irrationally, with no common sense.  
And Lance was something else. He was loud, chatty, and difficult to be around at any time. He thought he was the king of the earth, and that everyone should listen to him. He was just a selfish prick, who got everything he wanted with the slightest whimper; and had an evil witch under his fingertips, granting him every wish he voiced out loud.  
A pampered baby, who never knew other than a fake world created around him. A lonely brat with puppets as siblings.  
A kid who hadn’t interacted with another human being for half of his life.  
Keith shouted at the air and kicked the ground. He could see where he was coming from, but it didn’t do anything to lessen his anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art! 
> 
> [Akward Keith](https://www.instagram.com/p/CJzl358AbgF/?igshid=xqhznc47mou0)


	6. Treasonous currents

On a scale from one to ten, Keith was fucked.  
It wasn’t as if he didn’t like Lance. He did tolerate him, to an extent. But he wasn’t in the right mindset to go around sucking face with the first pretty boy that paid attention to him. And now, not only he had to make peace with him, after blowing him off and being a massive dick with a guy who knew nothing about talking to real people; but he also had to convince said guy to abandon a dream world that could be potentially dangerous. Easy peasy.  
He let out a frustrated grunt. Right now, he was sitting on the grass, contemplating his options and his life choices.  
He had to find Lance and apologize, quickly; before the witch found out that he hurt her pampered baby and decided to kill him on the spot. He also had to find a place where they couldn’t possibly be heard, to plot their escape. That is, if he managed to get on Lance’s good side.  
Why must everything be so difficult?!   
Keith shook his head. For now, he better get moving. He slid off from under the bush he was hiding in, and walked around the house as stealthily as possible. He didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention (namely, button people or evil witches). At least, there was a lot of ground to cover just outside.  
As he was going around one of the many corners, he heard muted voices. But the lawn before him was empty. He turned his head upwards, and lo and behold, Lance is there with… Pidge and Hunk, was it? The neighbours.   
Keith glued himself to the wall, and strained his ears.  
“-I just don’t get it! I even said it out loud, two times!”  
“Maybe he’s broken. You should ask Helena to fix him.”  
“No, he’s not- Nevermind. I’ll just tell mom not to let him in anymore.”  
“Rude.”  
“I’m not-! You know what, go away, you’re not helping.”

Keith heard the balcony creaking, and then footsteps receding. So that’s how the puppets act with Lance. Obedient and non-confrontative. No wonder why Keith was such a novelty.  
Maybe, if he wanted Lance to listen to him, he should play his part as a happy-go-lucky nice guy.  
Ugh. This was going to suck.   
Keith breathed in and called: “Lance!”  
Lance almost fell out of the balcony in his hurry. “Keith? What are you doing here?”  
“I want to apologize!” Keith cringed internally. “Can you come down here?” Way to go, champion.  
Luckily, Lance didn’t seem to mind his utter lack of communication skills. He flew down an exterior staircase, and was beside Keith in under ten seconds.   
Okay, showtime.   
“Hey, Lance.” Lance looked at him eagerly. “I might have been kinda rude back there. I was just… You caught me unprepared.”  
“That’s it?”  
Don’t punch the idiot don’t punch him remember your training young son of a witch-  
“Uhh, I… Is there somewhere where we can’t be heard? I wouldn’t want Helena to know…”  
Now, Keith was being a massive asshole and he knew it. Playing with the guy’s hopes was a low blow, but he was desperate and out of ideas.  
Lance perked up immediately. “I know a place!”  
He took his hand and interlaced their fingers, and Keith let him. Yet again, he was being dragged in a semi-jog, until they arrived to the beach.  
“Take your shoes off!” Lance was already doing so, and Keith caught up on his intentions a second later.  
“I don’t know how to swim.”  
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you.” Lance waved a hand dismissively. “But even here mom hears me when I call her. Down there, though-” he pointed to the pitch-black sea. “-were all alone.”  
Good. Wait, not so good! What if he tried something?!  
Not the time to chicken out, he reminded himself. Just do it.  
Albeit reluctantly, he took off his shoes, and was promptly shoved into the water. He had expected it to be freezing, but it was actually lukewarm. Benefits of the dreamland.  
“Come on!” Lance called, and Keith was obliged to follow. Soon enough, the water reached his waist, and then his shoulders, and he almost drowned when he lost his footing.  
“Oh my god” Lance seemed pretty amused at his almost-death experience. “You really can’t swim!”  
“What did you expect?!” Keith spat bitterly. Even now, he was paddling with all his might, and he was bound to get tired soon.  
Lance paused his laughing party to take pity on him. “Just hold onto me. I’ll do all the work.”  
Oh no. Physical contact, here it comes.  
Lance offered him his back, and Keith latched onto his shoulders. Much better than relying on his own swimming skills to keep himself alive.  
“Keep kicking your feet, okay? Here we go!”  
Lance started swimming horizontally, and Keith held on for dear life. He refused to look at the coast, but he had the feeling they were going far, far away from the safety of firm land.  
As safe as a land ruled by a witch can be, anyways.

.-- .- .-. -- .-- .- - . .-. -.-.-- .-- .- .-. -- -… --- -.. .. . …

In case anyone wanted to know, Keith despises swimming.  
By the time Lance stopped, Keith’s fingers had run out of blood long ago, and his legs hurt just by kicking aimlessly in a sad attempt to keep himself afloat. Lance, on the other hand, looked as if he hadn’t swum into the open sea with a deadweight hanging on his shoulders. He righted himself, and spun to look at Keith.   
Keith ignored how close they were now, in favour of going straight to the point.  
“I have to tell you something.”  
“Yeah?”  
“It’s not nice to hear.”  
Lance seemed taken aback. “But, didn’t you want to-”  
“It’s about this place.” Keith interrupted him before he could unload his yet again broken heart on him. “You’ve got to get out of here.”  
“You’re the one who wanted to come here, dumbass-”  
“I mean this world. You have to go back to the real world with me.”  
Lance frowned and sneered. “And why, pray tell, would I want to do that?”  
“The witch is evil. She eats kids!”  
“Ha! You’ve seen one too many scary movies. Mom would never-”  
“I talked to your sister.” Keith could see that arguing directly was a lost battle. “She was the one who told me.”  
“None of my sisters would-”  
“Your real sister, Rachel.”  
Lance narrowed his eyes.  
“My real sister didn’t even pay attention to me.”  
“She still misses you.” Keith dug into the crack he found. “All your family does. It’s been years, and they still think about you every day.”  
“No they don’t!” Lance screamed. “They never even noticed I was gone! I spent entire days here, and they wouldn’t even ask where I was!” He had tears in his eyes. “I figured that if they didn’t even care, I should just live here!”  
“Lance…” Keith knew exactly how that felt. But he never had a magical world to run off to. He chose the streets over those awful homes. “I assure you that’s not true. They looked for you for years. They couldn’t stand living in this house without you, so they moved away. And even to this day, they haven’t given up. Rachel was the one who asked me to bring you back.”  
Lance shook his head, full out crying now. “No! You’re lying! The witch loved me more than my family ever did!”  
“She doesn’t love you!” Keith raised his voice to be heard over the waves. “She just wants an easy meal!”  
“LIAR!” Lance screamed at him, and then dove head first into the water.  
Keith was suddenly left without any support, and he fell into the water too, resurfacing by force of paddling desperately.   
“Lance!” He called out to the black water. “Lance, help me, I can’t-”  
A wave caught him from behind, and submerged him whole. Keith swallowed a lot of seawater, but managed to come out, sputtering and coughing.  
“LANC-”  
Another wave (and were they getting bigger each time?) sent him rolling under, making him lose his senses completely. He didn’t know where was up and down, he couldn’t breathe, the water stung his eyes, and it was suddenly freezing cold; and he couldn’t even swim, he was too tired. He tried to kick himself up, but he was spun downwards again, and he was running out of air-  
When he felt a warm body brush against him, he latched on with all his strength, and felt the water running against him, until he breached the surface.  
He inhaled as much air as he could, and then proceeded to cough his lungs out. His senses were so overloaded, he couldn’t think straight for a solid minute; but later on he could make out a string of curses and apologies coming from beside his head.  
“-eith oh my god please be okay I’m sorry I’m so goddamn sorry-”  
“Lance.” He breathed; because who else would be hugging him to keep his head out of the water, after saving him from a certain death?  
“Keith! Oh Keith I’m so sorry, I forgot and then you weren’t up here and I couldn’t find you-”  
“Can we just-” Keith winced at the pain in his chest. Swallowing so much water couldn’t be good for him. “Can we get out of here?”  
“Yeah, yes, of course-”  
Lance maneuvered him until he was clinging to his back, and although Keith’s grip was far from firm, they began the swim back towards the shore.   
It took even longer than before, because Lance was going slow to make sure Keith didn’t let go, and Keith felt overall like a disoriented, nauseous and pained sock fresh out of the washing machine. When they finally arrived, Keith collapsed only a foot into the beach. A foot away from the water sounded like the safest place in the universe right now.  
He didn’t know how much they stayed there in silence, Lance looking out pensively at the sea and Keith just very happy to be alive; but eventually Lance spoke up.  
“We should go home.”  
“Here home, or home-home?” Keith couldn’t help but ask. He was still dizzy.  
Lance pursed his lips. “Home-home.”  
Keith snapped his eyes open, and sat up. “You mean it?”  
“I… I guess.”  
“Okay, let’s go.”  
Keith got up, and tumbled his way out of the beach. Lance must have seen his miserable state, because he caught up with him and offered a shoulder for support. Keith used it gladly.   
They made their way into the house, as silently as they could. Keith was surprised to see no one around, but he guessed witches and button-people sleep too. He pointed to the living room, and Lance guided them there. Before long, they were standing in front of the little door.   
“Okay, let’s go.” Keith opened it and began to crawl into it. This time, there were no magic lights, or soft silks. It was dark, stiff and cramped.   
He was halfway through when he noticed that Lance was not following.  
“Lance?” He called out. He tried to look back, but the tunnel was too small.   
“I- I can’t do it.”  
“What? Why?!”  
“I- My whole life is here! What would I even do there? What if my family gets mad if I go back?!”  
“That’s nonsense. Come on, Lance, please-”  
“I won’t do it. I can’t. Sorry Keith.”

Keith heard the door shutting, but he couldn’t even process it. The tunnel seemed to get smaller with every breath he took. He managed to crawl all the way out, into the real world; and then he kicked the door shut and fell limply into the floor.   
He failed. He went through all of that shit for nothing. Lance still chose his fake life over his own safety.   
Keith almost wanted to cry. It was so unfair! And it didn’t help that he’d managed to befriend the idiot, too. Now he cared about him, and that feeling would come back to haunt him whenever he thought about his great fuck-up.  
But he hadn’t given up yet. He still had one more option. If Lance was too stubborn to come out on his own, he would get someone equally as hot-headed to drag him away.  
He tried to get up to put his plan into action, but his tired limbs didn’t even twitch. It seemed like almost drowning was taking its toll on his body.   
He thought about at least getting on the couch, but he passed out without moving at all.


	7. The gift

"Lance? What's wrong, dear? You've barely touched your breakfast..."  
"Sorry mom, I'm just- distracted."  
"Where is that boy, Keith?"  
"He left, mom. He won't come back."  
Ah, yes, the root of the problem. It seemed to have Keith's name plastered on it most of the time, now.  
It wasn't like Lance was lying about going back with him. He actually thought he would do it; up until he had to face that little door. The same door that had led him to his own personal paradise, now waiting to take everything he knew from him. He just couldn't give it all up.  
So he stayed. And he knew Keith didn't like this place, so he wouldn't come back. Ever.  
But he would get over it. He just needed time.

He was torn from his thoughts when his mom clapped her hands. "I know! I'll make a gift for you to make you feel better!"  
Lance knew it wouldn't help, but as long as he didn't voice it, she wouldn't know. It was better to let her do this kind of things. It made her happy.  
"I'll be right back!"  
She left the kitchen, and Lance was free to go back to his sulking. His siblings were there, of course, but they didn't talk unless spoken to; unlike Keith.  
And here we are back in corner one again. Lance sighed and accepted his destiny of being reminded of him everytime he did anything. Good ol' overthinking.  
He almost missed when his mom came back into the kitchen, but when he saw her, he almost chocked. There, standing right beside her, was-  
"Keith!"  
Lance sprung up from his chair and hugged him. "I can't believe you came back! Do you really like me that much-?"  
Lance put some space between them to see Keith's purple eyes, but he only found cold, black buttons.

"Oh."  
He silently detangled himself from the new Keith, and looked at his mother. She looked radiant.  
"There you go! Now you won't have to miss him!" She was so happy with herself. Lance would hate to ruin it. So he just faked a smile and hugged her.  
"Thanks mom."  
"Anytime, sweetheart! Now shoo, go have fun!"  
Lance grimaced. She never stopped talking to him like he was a little kid. He ignored it and signalled the other-Keith to follow him.  
This Keith seemed to be a lot bolder than the original one, because he took his hand immediately and interlaced their fingers as they walked.  
Well, this wasn't half bad.

"Okay, what should we do?"  
Nice-Keith smiled. "I don't know, what do you want to do?"  
"How do you feel about swimming?"

\- …. . ..- .-.. - .. -- .- - . --. .. ..-. -

Allegedly, going back into the sea when yesterday had been such a nefarious experience could not have been the brightest idea; but Lance figured that if he made new good memories today, he wouldn't have to think back bitterly at his favourite place in the world.  
Of course, this Keith was a good swimmer, so he didn't have to carry him around this time. Still, he kind of missed having his weight hanging from his back; and specially his hands touching his shoulders.  
Lance shook his head. Focus on the fun now, he told himself, save the sad hours for later.  
Luckily, other-Keith was a lot chattier than his counterpart, and so Lance could get lost in small talk. After a couple of hours, they got tired of swimming and headed to the shore; and at Lance's command, they went to the small clifftops overlooking the sea.  
Yet another bad memory he would like to erase.  
"Hey." Other Keith called. They were sitting on the edge, propped against each other. "What are you thinking about?"  
"You." Lance answered truthfully. "And not-you. This version of you is much easier to handle, so much nicer and cooperative-"  
"I'm here for you only." Other-Keith smiled.  
"I know. Maybe that's why- why you feel so empty."  
Not-Keith didn't say anything. "I thought you wanted me to like you."  
"And I do. But- What else would you do, other than be with me?"  
"Nothing."  
"Exactly."  
"I don't understand. What else should I do?"  
"I don't know! Eat, laugh, be broody, just- be someone!"  
"I am someone. I am your boyfriend."  
Those words did things to Lance's stomach, but then it settled all in the wrong places. The knot in his throat grew until he couldn't talk at all.  
Not-Keith inched closer, and soon he was hovering millimetres apart from Lance.  
"Don't you want this?"  
"I-" was Lance crying, now? "I do-"  
He couldn't finish his sentence. Not-Keith kissed him, soft and slow and wrong.  
Lance shoved him away and stood over him.  
"I do want to be with Keith!" He screamed into the air. "But not you. You're not Keith. You're not even a person!"  
"Lance, calm down-"  
"No! Get away from me-!"  
Lance shoved the approaching puppet with all his might, and then he saw it disappear from his view.  
Gaping, and horrified with what he had just done, he peeked out of the clifftop. On the bottom, there was a vaguely human-shaped figure, surrounded by sand and some kind of doll-stuffing.  
Lance wanted to throw up. He ran away from there, crying.  
He didn't want anything to do with those puppets anymore. He wanted to talk to real people, who would laugh and get angry and be whole, not just some mindless shells programmed to fulfil all his wishes.  
He wanted to go home.

He ran past all his not-siblings; who didn't even once raise their voices at him. He wasn't sure he had heard them in a long time. He almost run over his not-father, who didn't ever do anything else other than ruffle his hair and smile. And he had already opened the little door when he encountered his not-mother.

"Lance...? Where are you going, sweetie?"

Lance knew he shouldn't answer. He knew that she only ever found out about what you wanted only after you said it out loud. But he wasn't in his right mind now. He was scared and distraught, and above all he was angry.

"I'm going home!" He yelled. He ignored his mom's hurt expression, and continued to pour his heart out. "I'm done with this place! Everything is fake! I've been living this lie for years, and I'm DONE!"  
He turned around to bolt trough the small door, but then he felt an iron grip on his bicep.  
"Oh, dear, I was afraid this day would come."  
Terrified, he tried to break free, but it was useless. She didn't budge.  
"If you won't love me anymore, I will make you stay with me, forever."  
Lance screamed, but he knew it was useless.  
There wasn't a single soul in this side who would help him now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art!
> 
> ["I'm your boyfriend" by Tixixx](https://www.instagram.com/p/CKZ8LJPgW_s/?igshid=1klw8e2uczru)


	8. Uninvited

/beep; beep; click-/

"Rachel, I need you to go into the witch’s liar with me."

... .... .. - ... .- -... --- .. - - --- -... .-.. --- .-- ..- .--.

"They didn't ask anything?"  
"I came with the carriage; they think I'm working."  
"But won't they see it's parked here?"  
"I left it hidden"  
"Yeah but-"  
"Hey, why all the discretion?"  
Keith sighed. "It could be dangerous. If something happened to us, and we left traces here, Shiro and Adam could be blamed-"  
"Keith, stop." Rachel placed a hand on his arm. "Nothing will happen if we're careful, no one will be framed for murder. Understood?"  
Keith nodded.   
"Besides, you've been there plenty of times. How dangerous could it be?"  
"I almost died twice, and that was without an evil witch actively trying to kill me."  
"Okay, fair point."

They were ready to go, and were just talking circles at this point. Rachel had brought night vision googles, that were hanging on her neck, and a backpack full of possibly useful stuff. Keith had taken out a knife he had (that Shiro had tried to make him throw away for years) and the most practical clothes he had. Together, they looked like they were about to go to a steampunk convention, but their mood was far from cheery. They both sported serious and determined expressions.

At last, they interrupted their useless chitchat, and stared at the door with apprehension.  
"You sure it'll work?"  
"I fucking hope so."  
Keith kneeled and opened the enchanted little nightmare portal, and then peered inside. Fortunately, the tunnel was still there.  
"Holy Fuck." He could hear Rachel behind him. He ignored her.  
"Let's go."  
Keith crawled in. He could swear this thing became even smaller everytime he went in. This time, it was cluttered with toys, making it even harder to go through.   
"Holy shit, Keith, this toy is mine."  
"What?"  
"This!" He heard Rachel poking some random object behind him. "It was my doll when I was little."  
Unnerved, Keith looked around. Indeed, there were toys he sort of recognized-  
"Oh no."  
"What is it?"  
"I-" Keith didn't know how to tell her these were some of his favourite toys in his old homes. The ones he wasn't allowed to use; the ones which he would steal at night just to get to hold them. "Nothing. Let's keep moving."

When he finally reached the door, he breathed in relief, only to inhale again sharply. This wasn't the living room he was living in now. It was the diner-living space of one of his first foster homes.   
"Lance isn't here, let's go."  
He turned to help Rachel up, only to find her gaping at something behind him. He immediately spun around, hand going to the stealth he kept his knife in; only to come face to face with-  
Holy fucking hell.  
"There you are, boy!"  
Keith almost expected to feel the belt hitting him, as it usually did when he was greeted like that. Instead, he was left staring at a far-too-smiley Mrs. Jean; the first to try and foster him just for money.  
But this isn't her, he reasoned. She never smiled. Ever.   
This must be the witch.  
"I've been waiting for you, come in, come in! Oh, and you've brought a friend! Delightful!" She even had her alcohol breath. Great impression.   
Keith knew that the witch was dangerous, but she had acted nice with him up until now. So maybe, if he played along, he could be left alone sooner or later to look for Lance.   
He tried to smile, and then settled for a grimace.  
"Hi, mom."  
The witch smiled. Keith just cringed, thinking of all the times he had called Mrs. Jean 'mom' only to piss her off.  
"Come along now, dinner's ready!" She turned around, and Keith tugged on Rachel to make her tag along.  
He was thrown for a loop, though, when he crossed into the next room.   
This was from another one of those awful homes. A long corridor, full of doors left and right. He knew that in each of those rooms sat an unhappy and undernourished kid.  
He looked to his right, and the witch now looked like one of the place's nuns. Long grey robes, crucifix collar. Even the button eyes resembled the dead stare she used to sport.   
But again, this nun smiled like there was nothing to worry about. Like there weren't a hundred kids about to get tossed into the streets for the lack of funds. She smiled and walked with a spring in her step, and opened another door for them.   
This, this was better. It was the house Shiro had been living in when he took him in. Small and dusty, but the memories here were a thousand times better.  
At his side, not-Shiro smiled and lead the way. Another door opened, and then they finally arrived at the kitchen.  
Keith had been here a lot lately, so it was Rachel's turn to gasp. The witch, now looking like Helena, went around the table and set to serving them numerous plates of food. Keith signalled Rachel to sit with him, and he thanked Helena for the meal.  
"This is so creepy." Rachel hushed. Keith just nodded and acted like he was enjoying himself.  
As dinner went by, it became obvious that the witch had no intention to leave. Keith was getting restless, so he began tapping on the table.

Tap, tap, tap; tap thud thud tap.

It was a great thing both he and Rachel knew Morse code. He slowly spelled "split up" and waited until Rachel gave him a thumbs up.   
Then, he initiated his master plan.  
"Uh, ma'am, I'm really tired, can I go to sleep?"  
"Sure thing! I'll take you to your room."  
Rachel's clue. "No! Don't go!" She yelled. "I'm afraid to be alone!"  
Wow, were those fake tears? Man she was good at pretending. Hopefully the witch wouldn't know that seventeen year-olds don't usually throw this kind of tantrums.   
Helena looked back and forth between both of them, and Keith shrugged.   
"I'm good on my own. I can find my way around by myself."  
Keith crossed imaginary fingers. Please let this work...  
"Okay then." She said, and dismissed Keith. She went around the table to console Rachel, and Keith ran off as slowly as he could manage.

He had planned to search the house up and down, tearing everything apart until he found Lance; but he hadn't taken into account the new development. Now, everytime he crossed a door, he was in a different house, each of them familiar to him.  
The witch can't find my true home, he thought bitterly. Jokes on you old hag, I don't remember it either.   
He set to work, and began his quest. He went door after door, trying to find a room or a basement; but it was obvious that all of them were either kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms or all of the above. Soon, he found himself looking under couches and behind curtains in vague hopes of finding Lance just hiding in there.  
He didn't dare call out to him, in case the witch was listening; but by the twentieth door, he was getting anxious. What if he couldn't find him? What if the witch decided to kill Rachel right now? What if Lance was already dead?!  
Keith covered his face with his hands. He was back at a room in Lance's house, and yet he was no closer to finding him than when he was getting started. When he dropped his hands, he almost had a heart attack, for someone was in front of him.  
Once he calmed down, he could see it was just a mirror. Reflection-Keith looked stressed, sad and hopeless; and Keith didn't like it a little bit.  
"Shut the fuck up!"

Now, punching a mirror to relieve stress may not be the healthiest coping mechanism, but Keith was running out of options. So, as he was throwing a hand back, he deemed getting a few cuts from broken glass a fair price to let out some anger.  
What he didn't expect, however, was his hand going through the reflection, as if it was made of water.  
He could have screamed, if he had had time; but as it was, he barely had time to catch himself before faceplanting into the ground.   
He grunted, and got up slowly. He was in yet another different room, but at least this was different. It was dark and moisty, and he was sure he had never seen such a depressing room before. No windows, no doors, only the lighter portion of wall where he just came from, and spiderwebs all over the place.   
So many spiderwebs, in fact, that they covered and entire wall from floor to ceiling. That was unusual.   
Keith inched closer carefully, watching his footing and straining his ears to catch any sound he could.   
He heard his own soft steps, some rat-like squeaks; and after seconds that felt like hours, he heard a small whine.  
Keith knew that sound.

"Lance?"

Silence. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper:  
"Keith? Is that really you?" Lance’s voice sounded muffled, coming from behind the wall of spiderwebs.  
"Lance, it's me"  
"Oh my god, Keith please help me please get me out of here-!"  
"Lance, calm down, I'm coming-"  
Keith took out his knife and started cutting through the webs, careful not to cut to much at a time; given that he still couldn’t see Lance, and he didn’t want to hurt him by accident.  
"Keith please we have to get out-"  
"I'm on it. I brought Rachel as backup; the witch is distracted."  
"Rachel..." Lance sounded so lost. "Rachel is here?"   
"Yes. She'll help us get the fuck outta here-"  
Keith shut up when he heard a hiccup. Then a sob.  
"Keith I'm so sorry, I should have gone with you-"  
"I'm almost there, hang on."

"heh. hang."  
"Why on earth would you find that fun-"

Keith cut through the last webs, and he finally could see Lance in the dim light.   
He was literally hanging.  
He had been tied to a massive web, like a human sized butterfly display. Keith swinged at the thick strands, and they snapped apart.  
"Oh." Lance said. "You might want to catch me-"  
Keith barely had time to react before an armful of Lance was thrusted onto him. He almost lost his footing, but he managed to stay upright.  
"Come on, Lance, I got you."  
"Yeah, let me just-"  
Lance managed to stand on his own, and Keith stepped aside. He could see Lance up close now, and-

"What- what the fuck did that witch do to you?!"

Lance winced, and covered his right eye.   
It was no use. Keith could still see the blood, and the button sewed directly onto his eyelid.  
"It's not pretty, I know-"  
"Lance, what the fuck! She fucking mutilated you-!"  
"I know, I know, can we please escape now?!"  
Keith shut it, but he was still beyond furious. If he saw that damn witch again, he would give her a ticket directly to the evil afterlife.  
Without wasting a second more, he took Lance's hand and went back through the mirror wall.   
Things seemed to have calmed down with the crazy doors, but he still was in a part of the house he didn't recognize. He got them lost at least three times before Lance regained his bearings and guided them to an staircase.   
Keith still didn't know how they would manage to find Rachel and get away without the witch knowing, but he would have to cross that bridge one he got to it. For now, the most important thing was to get Lance to safety.   
They descended the stairs one at a time, keeping their eyes peeled at every corner. It was nerve-wracking, but better than running face-first into the witch.   
Keith noted that none of Lance's fake siblings were around, and had half a mind to wonder what happened to them. The other didn't really care.

As they were nearing the first floor, they could hear fast steps going in circles, and the witch talking to herself.  
"Where is he WHERE ARE THEY he can't leave, don't you get it- he can't leave he can't I LOVE HIM with all my soul-"  
"You don't have a soul, you bitch!"  
Keith and Lance looked at each other. That was Rachel talking.  
"Shut up shut up SHUT UP i can't hear him-"  
"You'll never find him, motherfaker!"

The witch continued screaming. Keith could see that Lance was tearing up; but before he could do anything, he croaked out:  
"...rachel..."

The stomping stopped. Silence. Then:  
"There you are!"  
Keith jumped and twirled around. The witch was directly behind them.

"RUN!"

Lance didn't need to be told twice. He bolted down the remaining stairs, Keith hot on his heels. The witch just laughed in joy behind them.  
"I found you I found you I FOUND YOU! YOU'RE NEVER LEAVING YOUR MOM'S SIDE!"  
"Piss off!" Lance managed to croak out.  
Mark Keith down as terrified and impressed.

They burst into the living room, where Rachel was calmly sitting against a wall; covered in spiderwebs.   
"Took you long enough!"  
"Let's go!"  
Keith swinged his knife blindly, and he barely missed cutting Rachel instead of the threads. He pulled her up, and he ran for the little door; only to bump into a bony figure.  
"Keith!"   
He could hear both McLain twins yelling his name, but he could only focus on the horrible woman who had grabbed him by the neck.   
It was nothing alike Helena. The real witch had double the stature, plus white hair and thin, long limbs. It was even worse than the drawing he had seen of her.  
"You!" She screamed, and he though his eardrums would shatter. It was so high pitched, that bats all over the world must have gone deaf. "You want to take him from me!"  
"He was never yours, hag!"  
The witch lashed out at Rachel for her comment, and then refocused on crushing Keith's windpipe.   
Oh boy, how he would like to stab her right now. He reached blindly for his knife, but it wasn't in its sheath. He must have dropped it. Great job Keith.  
He cursed inwardly, and tried to at least kick her; but he was quickly losing strength, and did he really need to breathe? Because that wouldn't be happening anytime soon-  
He was taken out of his stupor when the witch let out a loud scream. Keith managed to see Lance over the witch’s shoulder, doing something behind her back. With Keith’s knife. Oh. He stabbed her. She let Keith go, and he fell on his knees. He couldn't even manage to regain his breath and he was already being pulled away; and shoved into a small space, and pushed and yanked and then let into the ground.

He heard a loud slam, and then his brain registered that be was laying on his own living room; with no witch on sight. Only Lance and Rachel, panting beside him.  
He looked at them incredulously, and they returned the uncertain look. But when no death descended from above, it was obvious that it was over.  
They made it.

After all that adrenaline, the relief was like a drug released directly into his bloodstream. He managed to see Lance and Rachel hugging each other tightly and laughing, and then he passed out.


	9. Greetings, lost one

After hugging her brother senseless; crying her eyeballs out and assuring the Shiroganes that Keith was not dead, Rachel took Lance home.  
The button was still sewed onto his eye, so she cut the stitches as painlessly as possible, and put a gauze over it. They would have to go to a hospital later, but Lance assured her that it didn't hurt too much, so it would have to wait. First and foremost, they needed to let their family know that he was back.  
She was happy beyond words, and hadn't let Lance's hand go during the whole journey. She wasn't about to risk him disappearing again. But as they drew closer and closer to the house, Lance grew quiet.

"Lance? What's wrong?"  
"I just..." Lance bit his lower lip. "What if they're mad at me? What if they didn't want me to come back at all?"  
Rachel stopped the carriage. This situation needed an iron-hand sister love.  
"Listen up here, you brat."   
Lance flinched.   
"You may think whatever you want, but you can't deny the truth. Absolutely all of the people in that house love you with all their hearts. It hasn't been a single day in all these years when one of us doesn't get sad over your loss, and I barely wanted to celebrate my birthdays anymore; because it made everyone think about the empty seat beside me. We've missed you, and we would never ever hate you. Hell, even Marco's kids know everything about you!"  
"I-" Lance was left speechless. "...Marco has kids?"  
Rachel laughed. "Yes he does, and mom still has slippers. You better hug her before she can whoop your ass."  
Rachel saw Lance smiling softly, and considered it a won battle. She got the carriage going again, and this time hugged her brother with her spare hand.

.-- . -. . ...- . .-. ... - --- .--. .--. . -.. .-.. --- ..- .. -. -.. -.-- --- ..-

Everything went just as planned. There was a lot of dropped jaws, crying, and laughing; in overall, the happiest atmosphere that house had ever had. Lance cried with everyone else, and he told them about his adventure with the help of Rachel. No one questioned him; whether it was out of shock or they actually believed them.   
By the time dinnertime came, everyone was thoroughly exhausted. Mr McLain ordered takeout food and everyone sat on the couch, reaching out and touching Lance somehow, just as Rachel did. So that they could make sure he wouldn't go away again.   
And yeah, Rachel thought. What else did you expect, Lance?  
We never stopped loving you, after all.


	10. Epilogue

“Lance, you’ve got a visitor!”

Lance wondered who the fuck would get up this early to see him; dishevelled as he was and in all his patched eye glory. Then he opened the door and his complaints were thrown out far away.  
“Hey” Keith himself was there, looking like the most awkward person in the planet. God bless him.  
Lance didn’t bother with verbal greetings. He hugged him tight, and didn’t let go until Keith complained about his ribs. Lance reluctantly let him go, but still stood close.  
“I, uhm, sorry for not coming earlier. After I passed out, I slept through the whole night, and I just woke up.”  
“Aw, did you think of me as soon as you woke? How sweet!”  
Keith punched him lightly, and Lance laughed.   
“I save your sorry ass and all I get is teasing?”   
“I could give you a gift card too”  
They both chuckled, and fell into silence. But Lance was well used to speak to silent people.  
“Thank you. For everything.”  
Keith looked surprised. Didn’t he come here to get his gratitude?!  
“Oh. You’re welcome, I guess? I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”  
Has Lance mentioned he still likes this dork of a man?  
“Well, none of us are dead yet, so I count that as a victory.”  
Keith scoffed, and then looked at his feet. Seriously, can’t this guy maintain ONE conversation?  
“Uhh, I see you’re fine, so, I should probably get going…”  
He began turning around, but Lance caught his wrist. He got him to turn around, but whatever he was going to say died in his mouth after seeing Keith’s rad face.   
Damn. He looked cute, embarrassed like that.   
“Penny for your thoughts?”  
Keith squirmed a bit, but then relented. “I was just thinking that- I, uhm, if you asked like a normal person, I wouldn’t be opposed to go on a date with you.”  
“Wait, really?”  
Keith looked gone beyond mortification. “Forget it, I just-”  
“No, I would love to!”  
Lance smiled wide and Keith eased up a bit. Really, Lance’s best day ever. After escaping an evil witch and reuniting with his family, of course.  
“Someone would have to teach me, though. It’s been a while since I last talked to non-buttons…”  
“Not me” Keith deadpanned. Lance just laughed.  
“Well then, we both should prepare for a lesson. Wanna come in?”  
Keith took his sweet time to decide that yes, getting breakfast with the McLains was better than walking all the way to his house in the freezing morning. Nonetheless, Lance never stopped smiling.  
Mark these two as the greatest days of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my insta: https://www.instagram.com/xelipoops_art/  
> Come say hi!
> 
> All the art:
> 
> [Akward Keith, by me ;)](https://www.instagram.com/p/CJzl358AbgF/?igshid=xqhznc47mou0)
> 
> ["I'm your boyfriend" by Tixixx](https://www.instagram.com/p/CKZ8LJPgW_s/?igshid=1klw8e2uczru)


End file.
